Being a B Corp: What does it mean?

Unsure of the B Corp meaning?

Certified B Corporations, or B Corps, are companies verified by B Lab to meet high standards of social and environmental performance, transparency, and accountability.

Read more on B Corp's official website.

To achieve and maintain certification, all B Corps: 

1. Complete the B Impact Assessment and achieve a verified total score of 80+ points.

2. Meet the B Corp legal requirement – amending Articles of Association to embed a commitment to consider the impact of decisions on all stakeholders.

3. Sign the B Corp Agreement and the Declaration of Interdependence.

They also publicly list their impact score on the B Lab Directory and recertify every 3 years.

Our most challenging problems cannot be solved by governments and nonprofits alone. By harnessing the power of business, B Corps commit to positively impact all stakeholders – workers, communities, customers, and our planet. 

There are over 5,000 B Corps all over the world, across 158 countries and with over 500,000 workers.

In November 2022, B Corp celebrated 1,000 certified companies in the UK 🎉

Businesses that become B Corps have seen great results: committed and motivated employees, increased customer loyalty, higher levels of innovation, and market leadership.

Certifying as a B Corp can bring the following benefits:

1. Improving impact through participation in working groups, sharing best practice and ongoing use of the BIA (B Impact Assessment) and SDG Action Manager.

2. Collaborating with other B Corps, joining B Locals around the UK and working together to find solutions to specific challenges.

3. Networking and attending exclusive community events.

4. Alignment with B Lab and the B Corp Community on global issues.

5. Engaging employees in the company’s purpose and mission and attracting and retaining talent.

6. Articulating the company’s mission externally – to investors, clients, customers and suppliers.

Recent research shows that B Corps out-perform their UK peers across several business metrics. Compared to data from surveys of UK SMEs, results revealed that B Corp SMEs have, on average:

1. Faster growth in turnover and employee headcount and higher expectations about future growth.

2. Greater levels of employee retention, engagement and diversity.
 

3. More robust governance processes.
 

4. Greater focus on civic and community engagement.
 

5. Higher levels of innovation.
 

6. The same likelihood of success at securing external finance.

To get B Corp certification a company needs to achieve a score of 80+ from the B Impact Assessment. Most companies will not achieve this first time and will benefit from the suggestions of how to improve their score.

Businesses can add further employees to their assessment entry and export this to best organise, prioritise and work on this further. They receive a report for improvement and a goal setting function. Lastly, there is a comprehensive knowledge base with best practice guidance by B Lab.

You can certify as a B Corp if you operate for profit in a competitive market and have been operating for at least 12 months.

The B Corp framework is not designed to promote greenwashing.

Some studies have shown that B Corporations are likely better than the status quo. They all share a common concern for the environment but stand out from their counterparts with a B Corp Status. The majority of companies pursue this status and their values are deeply rooted in ethics and the environment.

Companies need to recertify every three years to ensure that they are still meeting the criteria. As per the process before, people need to meet the criteria with 80+ points. Each B Corp company is required to post an annual impact report to share goals and achievements.

Businesses must complete the B Corp legal requirement by amending their governing documents. This means adopting specific wording in their articles of association to reflect the commitment to making a positive impact on the planet and society, and to consider the impact of decisions on stakeholders – shareholders, employees and suppliers. These articles also need to be filed with Companies House and everything needs to align with this mission statement.

The process is assessed and verified by B Lab, a company specialising in this area. Ensuring that eligible companies meet a B Corp level standard.

In February 2023, Plank Hardware received a score of 87.5, with 80 being the benchmark for receiving certification.

Review our profile within the B Corp directory for more details.

1. Increase our share of aluminum hardware sold from 8% to 10%.

2. Launch a collection of wooden hardware, using sustainably sourced wood.

3. Change our best-selling Black KEPLER Pull Handle from a stainless steel base to aluminum.

4. Change remaining brass-based Satin Nickel products to be made of stainless steel.

1. Plan a supplier visit for Q1 of 2025, either to China or India.

2. Utilising our demand planning software, reduce our dependency on air freighting. And be sure to stick to it.

3. Partnering with big retailers, like B&Q, has required us to conduct different supplier audits. We've onboarded with Sedex, a sustainable supply chain solution that requires us to implement unannounced, or semi-unannounced, third party supplier audits.

1. Roll out our 'screws-in-packaging' project, to reduce picking errors and maintain customer satisfaction. 

2. Maintain plastic-free packaging solutions as we launch new categories that consist of more delicate products.

1. Consider the impact of inflation on wages and review routinely.

2. Sustain our employee satisfaction score of over 90%, based on an anonymous quarterly  assessment.

3. 'More fun, everyday' — We want to ensure we remain a fun and motivational place to work.

4. Inspire our community of customers to make responsible home improvement decisions, through demonstrations of transformational repurposing and upcycling projects.